Sarah Gray: Giving back all year long

“The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others” – Ghandi

It seems the holiday season (and by that I mean Thanksgiving to Christmas) is probably the busiest time of the year. Lots of shopping to do, lots of baking to get done, parties to attend, all crammed into a four-week time period. Add in a couple of kid’s Christmas performances, wrapping presents and a handful of treasured family traditions, it’s a wonder we have time to do much else (Work? Nah … Laundry? It’ll keep … Dinner? Does peanut butter and jelly count?).

Many people do manage to eek out a few hours in their already busy schedules to take a break from getting and start giving. I have already heard the bell ringers from the Salvation Army sending a familiar Christmas sound through the parking lots of many retail stores in the area. Toys for Tots bins are filling up all over town and most (if not all) churches have organized a “giving tree” of sorts to help those in need this time of year.

It is interesting to me that during these four or five weeks a year we are all eager and willing to help others, but as the new year begins our schedules fill up, our interest wanes and our service dwindles. I know I am guilty of this myself. Why am I so ready to serve in December but not so much in March? I’m sure it has something to do with realizing how much we have and wanting to give some to others.

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I was watching the television show “Up All Night,” and in the Thanksgiving episode a couple of the characters decided they wanted donate their time at local church serving Thanksgiving dinner. When they got the church and saw the line they figured it was a line to get food. Instead it was a line of people waiting to distribute the food. So many people had turned out to volunteer they had to wait in line! I’m sure service organizations would love to have that problem in April or July as well!

It’s not as though we don’t give at all during the rest of the year. According to research released by the Corporation for National and Community Service, in 2010, 62.8 million adults spent time serving their communities raking up almost 8.1 billion hours of service. That’s very impressive.

What is also impressive is that volunteering seems to be on the rise. The report, “Volunteer Growth in America: A Review of Trends Since 1974,” found that adult volunteering rose sharply between 1989 and 2005, increasing more than 32 percent over those16 years.

And while all those numbers are great, it turns out only a third of adults volunteer their time each year. Let’s see if we can add to that in 2013. I know I am going to try my hardest to do more to give back to my community. After the tree has comes down and we are back to our lives the way they were before the mania of Christmas, let’s try and remember that the people who were in need in December will still be in need in January.

On a side note, my husband and I were out Christmas shopping the other day and when I said thank you to the sale’s clerk for printing me a gift receipt, he told me it was the first thank you he had gotten from a customer in a week. Now while I was glad to have thanked him, it also made me really sad that he had to wait seven days in between “thank you’s.” Come on people! I know this a stressful time of year and we are all in a hurry, but remember your manners. This has to be a tough time of year to be in retail (although lucrative for the higher ups) and sales clerks and those working “the floor” are doing their best (let’s hope). So give them a smile when you reach the checkout, look them in the eye, and say thank you when you leave.

Even if they don’t appreciate it, it will make you feel good. Just one little smile, or thank you or “Merry Christmas” can brighten a person’s whole day. And wouldn’t we all be a little better with a bit of extra joy in our hearts?